


Horizon of the Galaxy

by konavraptor



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Love, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23642770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konavraptor/pseuds/konavraptor
Summary: Ben had always thought his path had been carved out in stone for him to follow. However, the addition of a mysterious new force in his life is making his true path hazier and hazier. Being a Jedi Master is all Ben ever wanted, all he ever dreamed of - but everything Myra stands for, all she offers, defies the Jedi code and completely reforms the image of the Jedi Ben wants to be.
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren & Original Character(s), Ben Solo/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

A miracle had just occurred.

Between Leia and Han's bickering, greatly caused by the rigorous Jedi training Luke was putting Leia through, and smoothing all the creases in the newborn stages of the New Republic, a child had somehow been born. Kind, tired blue eyes twinkled down upon the quiet child who lay in a bundle in his mother's arms. A rare smile rested on Han Solo's face; one might've been able to catch the track of a tear running down his cheek, but to even think that that was possible could earn a blaster shot in any direction. Leia's heart swelled with pride and joy, nuzzling her cheek into Han's palm. At the foot of the bed, Luke watched the scene with happiness… and a little bit of dissatisfaction. Sometimes he dreamed about a different world. A different world where all of this had never happened, where he happily married some beautiful farmgirl from Tatooine, and they had many spawn running around to help them tend to their farm. Maybe he could've started a business or even moved off planet- he didn't like to think of all of the possibilities, because to be quite honest, he wouldn't rather anything else than what he had now. He was the first (new) Jedi master in years, he held an important position in the Senate, he had a family (as much of a family as Leia, Han, Lando, and the new child could provide), and Luke was content enough with that. Now, this child could help pave the way for Luke to reinstate the Jedi order and bring a higher level of peace and protection to the galaxy.

"Luke," Leia scoffed, rolling her eyes as she could read her brother's mind from the bed she lay in.

"What?" He playfully whined, snapping out of his trance.

"He's only thirty minutes old, and you already want to turn him into your protégé?" Leia bantered.

"Not if I have to say anything about it," Han said as the smile slipped from his face, warily eyeing Luke. Luke was like another brother to Han, and though he would never admit it, probably his favorite person in the entire world- other than Chewie, of course. Still, the whole Jedi and Force business made him uneasy. It was unnatural, it wasn't right. He'd be damned if he'd lose his son to the nonsense. The three continued with a combination of banter and adoration for the child, who upon Leia's insistence had been named after Luke's master- Ben Kenobi. Both Han and Luke voted against the idea, but as Han said… "Princesses, am I right?"

Their world was happy. At peace. 

Across the galaxy, however, was not.

Death. 

Death marked the entrance of yet another being into the world, screaming in terror as lights flashed around the dark room, explosions rocking the outside world. "Shhhh," hissed the mother into the side of the bundle as the woman pressed the squealing babe to her chest, attempting to calm the infant. Droids poked and prodded at her nether regions and she didn't dare cry out lest she terrorize the infant even more. As the healing droids cauterized her wounds and cleaned her up, the door burst open. With wide brown eyes, the woman found her husband, whos face was caked in blood. Their eyes met.

No words needed to be said.

In this room, with cracked walls and trembling floors and broken lights, their fate would be met. They would die together in this hellhole of a room. As soon as the realization had been met, he crouched beside the rock slab of a bed and clutched his wife's hand. Tears ran down both of their faces, and though they were fearful, it was not the dominant emotion.

The pair's love ran through the room, carving through the dust, making the place seem a bit brighter. Warmth pulsed through the babe's veins, calming her cries, easing her shivering body. Man and woman pressed their foreheads together with the babies, cherishing these last few moments together.

A flash, and all is lost.


	2. Chapter 2

Through the twisted trees and vibrant emerald grass, the river twisted and churned on and on, rough and dangerous. Past whistling birds and chittering creatures, the water found its way through a gated channel that ran under a cement wall, buzzing with energy. On the opposite side, the river reflected off beautiful yet humble buildings, lights flashing, faces smiling. The river grew happy, and the river grew calm and peaceful. Here lie the Jedi Temple of Yavin 4, where Leia Skywalker and Han Solo were currently twisting the peace that often lay here. "You know JUST as well as I do that we could lose him, Leia," Han ranted, the steam coming out of his head nearly palpable. He paced back and forth outside of the Millennium Falcon, hands snug on his hips.

"I know, Han, I'm the one that saw it, but this is the only way-" she started, but was cut off by Han, who whipped around and shoved a finger in her face.

"You saw his death. You saw him dying. And you're going to sit here and tell me that we give him away to that future? That we let that happen? No. It's not happening," he reasoned.

"First of all, get your finger out of my face. This is my son, too, you selfish bastard!" Leia shouted. Han cringed a little, feeling an that familiar, invisible force cause him to stagger backwards. "It is the only way. Evil still lurks out there… Luke and I can both feel that. You know by now to trust our instincts." Han could not argue with that one. Between the siblings, their "instincts" had gotten them out of more jams than he could remember.

"Leia," he began, tone growing softer. "I trust you. I trust your brother. I love you both. But you have to understand… this is our son, Leia! I can’t lost him. We can't." She delicately reached her hand to his face and placed her palm on his cheek.

"And we won't. I'm sure of that. Whatever I saw- it can be prevented. That's why I quit my training, Han, and you know that. He needs to learn here, he needs to learn under the influence of the light side. We've seen his powers. I've felt his power, and I know you can feel his power too. He needs to be with Luke, whether you like to hear that or not. If he stays with us…" her breath hitched "…there's too many possibilities of what could happen. This is where he needs to be. I can feel it." For what felt like an eternity, there was silence as the couple drew their foreheads together and silently apologized to one another. 

"Fine. We'll leave him here. But one thing goes wrong, he's back at home," Han gruffly replied, which drew a laugh from Leia.

"Even when he is home, it's not like you'll be there to see him. You don't even know what home is anymore."

The two found their way back up the ramp of the Falcon, and found Chewie tossing a ball around with a goofy six-year-old with neatly trimmed black hair. Leia always insisted that he look neat, for he was in the eyes of the entire New Republic. "Come on, Ben, we're going to go find your Uncle Luke now," Leia said, grabbing the boys hand. Chewie let out a few noises, prompting Han to roll his eyes. Grabbing a small bag packed specifically for Ben, Chewie followed the trio out of the ship and into the temple. The buildings here were modern and updated frequently with technology, but there was minimal everything. Luke insisted in no defense system, claiming that the Jedi could defend themselves. Still, that didn't stop Leia from forcing him to at least install a shielding system for the Temple. He cut corners wherever he could. Young Jedi needed little to thrive, and needed to be undistracted on their journey. Leia always felt at home within the beige and brown natural hues of the temple, but Han always felt creeped out. Not natural, he always said in regards to the force and the Jedi. Though, even he couldn't deny the Force with his own eyes at this point. Leia certainly had some tricks up her sleeve when it came to their relationship. 

Luke was found in a large hall with about seven young teenagers, all meditating in the middle of the room. Some where levitating low above the ground, while others had their eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to achieve a state of inner peace and mindfulness. "Young ones, you may now exit your meditation exercise," Luke began to say far before Leia, Han, and Ben arrived to the room, sensing their presence the moment they touched down. The training Jedi apprentices all opened their eyes, some slamming to the ground, some gently lowering themselves. "Go to the mess hall," he grumbled. There was still a twinkle in his eyes as the apprentices all jostled against each other and made a break to go get lunch.

Turning, Luke's eyes met Leia's, and they embraced for a long time. "I didn't expect to see you guys here so soon," he announced as he went for a swift yet warm handshake with Han. Now Luke turned to Ben, immediately feeling power wash over him. Strange, Luke thought to himself. The boy's power was growing by the day. With a flick of his wrist, Luke threw the laughing boy into the air and back down into his arms. "Hey, Benny Boy!" Setting the child back down, a chill ran down Luke's spine when he saw his sister's face and felt her aura.

"Luke, Ben's powers surfaced. We… need to talk."

~~~~~

A red-headed man opened the door to respond to a radio call for help, only to find bodies of slaughtered First Order Stormtrooper trainees laying about Barrack 13. His heart dropped. If the Supreme Leader learned about this, he would be a dead man. It was never easy to pluck children from their protective and rightfully angry parents grasp to train them for war and inevitable death. Still, it was the way. The demise of the Empire brought the destruction of the wide-scale heavy-duty cloning technology required to sustain a proper army of clones. Thus, Operation   
Excubitor was born, where the First Order made barren of children any worlds they came to control. It wasn't always an easy program to follow, especially in the newborn stages of the First Order. They lost many senior stormtroopers from citizens fighting back, so the Supreme Leader stressed the importance of the younglings taken into training.

And now, thirty of them were dead.

He carefully stepped through the bloodied and bashed bodies. Based on the state of the corpses and the destruction of the room and all of its contents, Hux determined that the cause of death was…

"They all killed each other," a deep and brooding voice said from behind Hux. Hux turned to see his superior, dark eyes lit with anger. As the man raised his hand, Hux winced, expecting the familiar feeling of air being forced from his lungs. Wincing, he waited for the feeling to come, yet it never did. Instead, Hux heard a whimper from the back of the barrack. It was strangely high-pitched, unusual considering odd numbered barracks were composed of strictly males. Hux slowly turned to see a blond child in the back of the room, her skin bare and exposed to the elements. One of her eyes was swollen shut. "And it's quite curious that this little one was the only one to survive." The tall, cloaked figure in the back stepped forward past Hux, making his way towards the shivering girl.

"Sir- why is she in here?' Hux inquired. The child was supposed to be contained in her quarters at all time, no exceptions, Stormtrooper guard at all times. He did not get a response. The dark-haired man simply reached his hand down to the girl. She whimpered and tried to retreat against the wall.

He lifted his hand and brought the girl into his arms himself, removing his cloak with one hand and covering the child with it. "Contact the Supreme Leader at once and tell him that it is time."


	3. Chapter 3

In the midst of darkness, surrounded by Outer Rim planets, the newly-built Supremacy lurked menacingly. Tiny ships came to and fro, each on their way to different planets to raze them of their people and natural resources. The thousands of Stormtroopers on this ship were either training or fulfilling duties to help bring the First Order more resources and more power. Within the depths, however, something more sinister lurked, something few knew about.

"Kill him," a withered, gravelly voice croaked from the shadows of the room. He spoke to a teenage girl, no older than sixteen, clutching a pristinely built red lightsaber in her left hand. Without hesitation, the head of a Stormtrooper was cleanly sliced off. The battle stick he had been holding in both hands dropped to the ground, and the rest of his body followed moments after. "Good." The voice reprimanded the girl. She retracted her saber and carefully stepped over the remains of the rest of the troopers that had been a part of her training exercise. 

"Master," she carefully asked, "isn't it a bit… wasteful to throw aside the lives of our manpower in this sort of manner?" The grizzled white figure that sat high above her waved his hand.

"The planets in this galaxy are giving us more and more to train by the day. The Republic cannot secure their resources, their planets, their people. Their defense systems are not strong enough- however, my child, it is only a matter of time before the Jedi-" he spat on the ground in their name- "come crawling to the rescue. It is then that I will unleash our rebuilt Sith upon those nasty, dreadful hounds." She did not respond, only carefully digested his words and pondered what killing a Jedi would feel like. She felt no remorse about the Stormtroopers, of course, because they were simply children that the First Order saved from a life of misery and slavery. But her fellow Force users- "I sense hesitation in you, little one."

"No master, just curiosity on how one can practice the Force with no emotion," she quickly replied, blue eyes traveling back up to the figure on the throne. He emitted a sharp, dry bark.

"That is always their downfall. What is the point of wielding such power, such greatness if you cannot utilize it to the fullest?" She felt herself being tugged forward by an invisible force. "That is why we are special, why we are strong." 

"That is what makes the Sith."

"Yes, Master Snoke," she mindlessly replied, having heard the spiel numerous times throughout her life already. She felt a sudden tug on her heart that grew into a blooming, blossoming fire. It wasn't a completely unfamiliar feeling before- this was her feeling something through the Force, something big- a chuckle came from Snoke's chair, dark and evil, shaking the entire chamber as it grew louder and louder, reverberating throughout the entire Supremacy. 

"My child, it is time."

~~~~~

“We need to respond, Luke. It’s now or never,” Leia hurriedly told her brother from across the table at the council meeting. The projection of Luke uneasily shifted his weight.

“Leia, I don’t know if they’re ready for this yet.”

“They have to be ready,” she replied, a worried frown on her face. Deep down, she agreed with Luke- the young Jedi Knights and Padawan were not quite ready for this caliber of combat, were not ready to face the First Order for the first time. Both Leia and Luke had felt the inky black reach of the dark side more and more often of the late. As both a mother and a leader in the New Republic, it terrified her. Not only did she have to lead the new Resistance against the First Order, but she had to maintain a level of excellency no matter what happened to her son.

“Can we be sure that this is the right move? Perhaps we should send lighter forces and only expose the Jedi once they are stronger. We don’t know what kind of trap they could be setting,” Admiral Ackbar reasoned in the midst of the awkward silence. 

“No, we can never be sure when the right time is,” Luke admitted. “I do think a fair amount of my students are up for the challenge, but I cannot risk taking the Padawans and some of the knights into this kind of challenge yet.”

“And that’s fine. We just need them to back off a little until we can build up our fleet more. If you could just buy us some more time to gather our defenses, Luke, that would be all the help in the world,” Leia gratefully told her brother. Another moment of silence.

“Alright. We can make for the Outer Rim at first light tomorrow,” Luke responded, and a heavy sigh of relief rang out throughout the chamber, with an exception of Leia. She knew Luke, and she knew that he was going to bring Ben. Ben was the best Knight that Luke had at the moment, and he wouldn’t leave him behind to defend the temple. Dread filled her heart. For once, just a small moment, she wished she could go with Luke and Ben. She wished she would’ve finished her training- but she remembers what she saw, what would’ve happened if she did. And she’d never forgive herself for that.

~~~~~

Blue clashed against yellow. The sky was fighting the sun above the river with loud hisses and shrieks, grunts and occasional talking. Ben sidestepped Jakora's heavy swing and brought his saber to the side of the other Jedi Knight, but Jakora parried it with another blow of his own. Ben moved yet again to perhaps carve a small wound into Jakora's shoulder, but with one swift movement he flipped into the air above Kylo's head, avoiding the blow entirely. Ben whipped himself around in a defensive position now, as Jakora dealt blow after blow that Ben defended against with seemingly low effort. "You still think this is going to work?" Ben bantered, barely out of breath.

"Shut--up--" Jakora grunted in between swings. Ben sighed, having enough of the Knight's antics. Though he seemed like he was simply going to defend against Jakora's next blow, he swept the saber to the side and up into the air upon first contact, and Jakora lost ahold of the yellow saber. Ben reached his palm into the air and sucked the saber into his hand, and Ben placed both yellow and blue saber on either side of Jakora's neck. With a deep sigh and a roll of his eyes, Jakora placed his hands into the air. "Fine, Ben. You've got me. Again." The two both frowned, staring into each other's eyes. After moments of what seemed like brooding rivalry, they both burst into laughter and grinned at one another. Ben offered a hand down to his friend, and helped him off of his knees. "You know, that still wasn't bad for someone who was just Knighted last week."

"I'm five years older than you. I shouldn't be this weak," Jakora mumbled disapprovingly under his breath.

"You both have strengths in different places. I can't recall the last time Ben could calm a Fathier, if he's ever been able to. You can do that with just one moment of eye contact," a voice rang out from behind them. Ben closed his eyes and sighed once again. Luke. "That is the beauty of the Jedi Order. There is more than just two, and every Jedi has different strengths. Together, we are one. Together, we are strong." Ben saw straight through his uncle's lecture, however. The stinging feeling of fear was emanating through his uncle's body, and as he turned, it grew even stronger. What had the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy this frightened?

"Ben," Luke gently said, placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "We need to talk."


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean I'm staying behind?" Ben hissed, attempting to hide his dismay as much as possible from his uncle. 

“We need someone to stay behind and defend the temple, defend the younglings- for all we know, Snoke is just setting a trap,” Luke smoothly told Ben, placing both of his hands on Ben’s shoulders. 

“Uncle—Master—you know that I’m the most capable of the Jedi Knights,” Ben’s voice smoothed a little, and he straightened his posture up a bit, “you will need me out there. The Temple is important, as are the younglings, but there are many others who’s skills would be utilized way more here than they would on the battlefield.” Luke looked at the ground, unable to deny Ben’s words. Ben, being the strongest of the Jedi Knights, needed to be alongside Luke fighting the first order. Still. Ben’s pure and raw strength did not frighten Luke; in fact, he expected no less from the descendant of Anakin and Leia Skywalker. Luke and Ben shared the same blood. Ben’s ambition scared him. Ben’s willingness to allow emotion to leak into his Jedi duty scared him. Most of all, Luke could feel a shroud of darkness lurking ever so slightly behind Ben, following the boy everywhere he went. He wasn’t sure if Ben was aware; in fact, he was quite confident that the boy had not a clue that he had such an affinity with the ways of the dark side. “This is what I’ve been training for, Master. My entire life, this is what I’ve always been waiting for.” 

Another moment of silence from Luke.

Perhaps if he sheltered the boy too much, Ben would cave and allow the shroud to fully envelop him. 

“You can go. But Ben- you need to be aware of what we’re dealing with here.” A soft satisfaction filled Ben at the sound of these words. He was fully aware of the dangers of the dark side, perhaps all too familiar. He read Obi-Wan’s first-hand recollections of the struggles that Anakin Skywalker faced. He knew the visions of peace and grandeur that had caused the young Jedi to give in to the ways of the Sith. Ben wasn’t going to allow that to happen to him. He was going to carry on Anakin Skywalker’s legacy as a powerful Force wielder who gave way to the light side, the right side. 

“I’m aware, Master. Thank you.”

~~~~~

Creatures stirred throughout the plain, devoid of any plant life aside from half-dead grass, and all skittered in one direction towards the forest that bordered the plain. Stormtroopers swept through the ankle-high grass, scouting the land for any beneficial features or places that would aide them in the upcoming battle. “As far as we can see, sir, it’s all flatland. I think the best approach is to be opposite of the jungle, as the Resistance favors guerilla attacks from such landscapes. Along the cliffs there’s several large overhangs that we can shelter our troops under to hide from any possible airstrikes if our Tie Fighters don’t react in time,” a Stormtrooper donning a red leather sash spoke, halting his squadron behind them.

“Very well then. Report to Squadrons 6, 19, 27, 32, and 44 with that detail. We expect the Resistance to arrive within the timeframe of approximately twenty three minutes,” a weaselly voice replied, belonging to none other than General Hux. 

Behind the bustling Stormtroopers at the top of one of the rocky cliffs- no, you couldn’t call it a cliff, maybe a hill- stood two figures cloaked in black, taking in the entire plains that were soon to be battlefields. “Can you feel it?” The taller of the two asked, glancing down at the much shorter figure.

“Yes,” a feminine voice responded. 

“That is the feeling of death and fear that is soon to inhabit these lands. Use those emotions to fuel your power and fuel your fight, Myra. Out of all the battles you have faced, this shall likely be the most mentally and physically straining one yet.” 

“Yes, Master Caedus.” His words caused goosebumps to erupt all over her body out of excitement. Something arose inside of her. Today she would get to fight a Jedi. All of the blood, sweat, and tears that had consumed her entire life would be doubly worth it today. If she could prove herself on this battlefield- she shivered at the thoughts of the possibilities that bringing down a Jedi could bring. Beside her, Darth Caedus could feel the excitement running through the girl. He couldn’t fight the miniscule smile as his lips slightly curled up. After all this time, she was ready. 

No longer was she the tiny girl that he had found in the midst of dead Stormtroopers.

Today, Myra would become a true member of the Sith, and Darth Caedus couldn’t help but feel pride knowing that he had gotten her here. Of course, he’d adhered to a strict training regimen set by Supreme Leader Snoke, but after all, Caedus was the one that had actually trained this girl. 

Both of them snapped back to close attention when a voice came through on their intercom. “Our scanners are picking up Resistance aircraft approaching precisely 1.3 miles away from the break of the forest.”

“Stay put. They will have to come to us, away from the cover of the forest. The plains stretch far enough that their weapons will be ineffectual from that range,” Hux commanded the Stormtroopers. Both Myra and Darth Caedus did not move. A small tingling was felt deep down in their bones, and Myra did not bat it away as easily as Caedus had. She’d never felt a Jedi before. The hairs on her arms began to raise as the Resistance moved closer by the second, intensifying the twisting, tingling feeling that began to invade her body.

“Myra, focus. You know how to keep the light side out. You know the consequences,” Darth Caedus roughly informed her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the young girl quickly vanquished the Force sensations in her body. As excited she had been for this fight, she now began to slightly fret about actually facing down a Jedi.

~~~~~

Not a single Knight spoke on the flight to Akiva. The First Order had been stripping planets of both natural resources and children to groom into Stormtroopers, but the invasion of Akiva meant the First Order had crossed a line. The New Republic order was shattered by the First Order merely days ago, and as Snoke had predicted, Leia promptly sent forces to try and claim the important Outer Rim planet back. Luke had seen this day coming for a long time- though, the outcomes of the battle were still hazy to Luke. Anything regarding the Jedi and the Sith were becoming more and more foggy to him, harder for him to see. Nothing frustrated him more, especially now that a nephew was in the mix.

Ben sat in the back of the ship from the Jedi Temple by himself, levitating a few feet off the ground and meditating. He found himself in an incredibly deep trance as he tried to channel the thoughts and strength of the Jedi that had come before him. The brightness of the light side dominated his thoughts, whispers from Jedi ringing throughout his mind. 

You belong with them. 

Ben could feel darkness beginning to seep through, as it often did, and he consistently struggled to hide his internal battle from his peers and from his uncle. No. Ben thought, forcing any dark side thoughts away. Lately, though, they'd been getting stronger. The sensations he got from the Force were getting stronger, as if there was some power, some force out there that had been awakened. 

Join us, Ben. 

You're no better than any of us.

Ben's eyes flew open, and he gently lay his feet upon the ground, abruptly ending his meditation session. Of the late, that's typically how they'd been ending. He'd been finding it harder and harder to only concentrate on the Jedi rather than his own personal interests and feelings. Heading towards the cockpit, Ben gave several reassuring nods and smiles to his fellow Knights, many of whom were older than him. Out of the window, he could see the Resistance fleet rapidly approaching treetops of one of the forests located on Akiva. 

He felt it.

It almost felt like he'd been stabbed. Ben clutched his side, daring not to make a sound because he knew exactly what this feeling was.

"There are Sith nearby," Ben let out, continuing to mask any pain he felt. He didn't know why it hurt this time, though. Normally the dark side just felt like a heavy blanket, intoxicating and poisonous. 

"I know. I've been able to feel them since their beginning. That's why Leia called us to here," Luke quietly explained. As Ben retreated back into the depths of the ship to prepare, a small flare of anger ran through his head. Why would Luke not tell any of his students that they were about to face against a Sith? Luke should've prepared them of how manipulative they were and would likely be to all of the Jedi here today. For all but Luke, it was their first encounter with a true Sith. They'd all met dark-side users before, but never in the capacity of a Sith lord.

Today was going to be different for Ben. Today, he was going to kill a Sith and be granted the title of Jedi Master.


	5. Chapter 5

Hellfire.

X-wings clashed with TIES in the skies, just as Stormtroopers clashed with rebels on the grassy plains in between the hills and the jungle. Already, several fires from crashed ships had broken out through the dry grass and were rapidly spreading throughout the battlefield. A few unfortunate Stormtroopers and rebels alike had been engulfed by the flames, too absorbed with fighting the enemy that they hadn't noticed the glow advancing behind them. Here and there, flashes of green, blue, purple, orange, white could be seen, carving through the air and eating blaster shots. Many fallen Stormtrooper bared the mark of a lightsaber. 

Meanwhile, Ben Solo was slowly making his way towards the hill where he had last seen the Sith. Grunting, he impaled a trooper with his saber, spinning the weight with ease to block several blaster shots at once with the trooper's body. With a quick push of his hand, the body flew across to the Stormtroopers currently aiming at him, knocking them all over. Ben sprinted to the fallen troopers who were struggling to stand up. The flames not too far behind them reflected in Ben's eyes. He knew what he wanted to do… do it, then. A voice rang in his head. Cold. Twisted. This wasn't Luke or Jakora or Corran he was hearing. Burn them. Ben raised one hand up to summon the fire towards the Stormtroopers, but it was promptly forced back down to his side. Lifting his head, Ben's eyes met Luke's who just simply shook his head, knowing what Ben was about to do. The fleeting moment of bloodlust was gone, and Ben now felt remorse for almost disobeying the Jedi code. He promptly struck the Stormtroopers down with his saber, granting them a swift, merciful death as it should be.

Who had talked to him?

Spinning and slashing, gliding through the air, Ben Solo's lightsaber took down many First Order troopers with little opposition. He was getting closer and closer to the rocky wall of the hill, it would be a short climb, only a few more Stormtroopers left-

The remaining Stormtroopers in between him and the cliff of the hill scattered and began to aim elsewhere. Confused, Ben kept his saber raised defensively in front of him. "Nice of you to join us, Jedi." A voice taunted behind him. Ben spun around, and was met with a red lightsaber inches from his face.

~~~~~

Myra had been watching the Jedi with anticipation, Caedus having to remind her every minute to wait, wait until the time was right. The Jedi were strong with the Force, disciplined, well-trained, but not as well as Myra and Darth Caedus. Caedus had no doubts that the two of them would be able to take on all of the Jedi and more… except for the damned Skywalker. The minute Luke Skywalker stepped onto the battlefield, Caedus cursed himself. He would've preferred the Jedi stay behind on his Praxeum, tending to his Jedi Younglings- it would've made this a lot easier for the two Sith. Now, Myra would likely have to face most of them on her own. She was not ready to face Skywalker. "Myra. When the time comes, I need to subdue Skywalker. He alone is more powerful than the rest of the Jedi. You are not prepared for such a challenge just yet; I will need you to try and take on as many Resistance fighters and Jedi as you can handle. It will not be too much for you to handle, but if it is, I will be with you, as will more Stormtroopers."  
Myra nodded, no words need. She released her weapon at her side, shedding crimson light on the grass at her fight. Caedus promptly turned and walked down the side of the hill, towards the battlefield where who she presumed was Luke Skywalker was mowing down Stormtroopers. Looking back down, the corners of Myra's lips curled into a smile. Perfect. She thought to herself, watching a young Jedi fight his way closer to the rocky wall of the hill. My first kill.  
Myra leaped down the cliff, suspended in the air for what felt like an eternity until she landed softly behind the Jedi. He was too preoccupied with slaying her army to even notice her. Foolish and weak, can only listen to the Force when they're not busy. With one wave of her hand, the remaining Stormtroopers scattered to take on other Resistance fighters. She watched the Jedi warily hold his saber in front of him, confused. "Nice of you to join us, Jedi," Myra spat. She wasn't going to give him a chance. The second the Jedi moved, she swung her sword at his face-

A yellow flash of light, and Myra's saber was deflected, jerking her arms backwards. Before Myra now stood two Jedi. The Jedi shared a look with each other, nodding. "About time you did something useful, Jakora," the taller of the two joked. As curious as Myra would like to be about two males her age who weren't clad in white armor for most of their lives, these were Jedi. These were her sworn enemy. "Anyways, you are welcome for blessing you and your wretched army with our presence." All three of them squared up, preparing to fight.

With one swift leap, the yellow-sabered Jedi was above her head, and Myra easily deflected his swing at her in one swift move. Using her momentum, she teased the blue-sabered Jedi, knowing full well that this stroke would do nothing. Parrying the blow, the dark-haired Jedi went upwards towards her chin, and she stepped to the side, bringing her saber down on top of his to force him back down. Without looking, Myra held one hand behind her and shot the yellow-sabered Jedi down to the ground with the Force. Though she didn't mean to, his head slammed against a rock protruding from the ground. He wasn't going to get up for a while with that one. The Jedi before her growled a little, eyes narrowing. She could feel his power, feel his strength… Myra wasn't aware that Jedi could give off this strong of a signature. Even Caedus's was never this prominent… the two continued to viciously spar.

Something was off.

Something was different.

The rest of the Jedi felt… light. All light side. But this Jedi with a blue light saber… he was different.

"How does-" Ben grunted in between blows "a pretty little-" another blow- "thing like you end up as Sith garbage?" Ben forced her backwards with a push of his hand, but she only slid back a few feet.

"You're not as strong as you think," Myra taunted back, grinning to see his dismay at his little trick barely working on her. "Garbage," she scoffed as she deflected a rather strong blow from the Jedi. "You think you're so much better than me- tell me-" she fell to her stomach to avoid a swing from Ben -"tell me what makes the light side so much better than the dark?" 

As the two kept fighting, the fields around them roared with flames, trapping them in a circle against the cliff. Both of their breaths' began to grow labored, gasping for air in between swings and between parries, drawing as much Force energy as both of them could muster. Ben began to grow frustrated. He'd never had an opponent last this long against him. Though Myra was tired, she fought with flames in her eyes, determined to kill this scum. After a few more quick movements, their sabers were pressed against to each other, and Jedi and Sith found themselves face to face, eyes on fire. Myra willed the Force to push the Jedi backwards, and Ben did the same. After a few moments, both of them flew backwards and fell to the ground. Both struggled to get back onto their feet.

Chests heaving, Ben and Myra stared at each other, ten feet away, fury growing by the second. 

"If the Jedi are so pure, then explain to me why they killed my parents," Myra asked in a deep tone. Ben couldn't answer her.

"If they're anything like you, they deserved to die."

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Myra flew at Ben in a fit of rage, red saber flying through the air in all directions. 

They flowed together. Ben had never had a fight like this before, were everything just moved seamlessly and smoothly- Myra's saber was pushed out of the way, and the end of Ben's sword caught her deep in the shoulder. She yelped, grabbing at her shoulder. Use the pain. She told herself, glaring at the now two Jedi before her. Just as before, she began to spar with both of them, rapidly growing more and more tired and sluggish as the fight went on. She couldn't hold the both of them off for much longer, especially since she could practically only use one arm now.

Master.

Be with me. I need your help.

She fell to one knee, holding Ben off with her saber and attempting to stop Jakora with feeble attempts with her injured arm.

Through the ring of fire, a flurry of black and red appeared. "No," the blue-sabered Jedi whispered. If this wasn't the Sith master he was facing… what would a Sith lord bring upon them? The gray-haired man flicked Ben to the side like he was nothing. "The Skywalker will be yours to kill. If you fail this mission, you have failed the Sith. But some aid, I can grant you."

Ben and Jakora made eye contact.

Jakora's abdomen lit up with red light. 

There was no struggle, no attempt to escape. Jakora's fate had been sealed. 

"NO!" Screamed Ben from the ground. Darth Caedus didn't skip a beat, retracting his saber from the Jedi Knight's body. Caedus simply left the way he came, a flurry of black through the flames. The Jedi stood for a moment, a mixture of shock and pain taking over his face, and he crumpled to the ground. Myra winced.

She did not move from her knee.

Ben crawled over to his friend, his best friend, his brother. Jakora feebly reached up and placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. The young Jedi struggled to breath, tried to gasp out words, but his lungs would not allow him to speak. Only breathe. His free hand trying to cover the wound. His body's way of trying to stay alive. Myra watched the scene. Chills ran up and down her spine; she could feel the Force streaming out of the Knight's body, his soul already ascending to whatever lay beyond death. 

Even with all of her training, all of the ideals of the Sith running through her head, Myra could not bring herself to lift her weapon against Ben or the dying Jakora right now. 

"Luke can fix this. Just hang on, Jakora, we'll get you back to the medical frigate, they're close by right now-"

One laborious breath. Jakora's whole body shuddered as he tried to bring in more air for a last few words for his best friend. 

Nothing came.

Myra could see the young Skywalker's face twist with pain, choking back tears as he held his dying friend that he could not save.

All too quickly, Myra and Ben both felt the new void in the Force. They could feel his soul being ripped away from them. Beyond the circle of fire surrounding them, Myra could hear several cries from Jedi who had felt the same thing she just had. She could almost sympathize- if it were Caedus who she had just felt slip away- it would be unbearable. 

Neither Ben nor Myra moved. 

"Get on with it. Kill me," Ben said through clenched teeth, body shaking with anger. Myra stood up, but she retracted her saber.

"Leave. Leave this place now."

Ben stared up at the girl, making true eye contact with her for the first time. Both of them shivered, goosebumps traveling up and down their arms. "After this day, you will die, Jedi."

Ben carefully scooped his fallen friend's body into his arms, warily eyeing the Sith apprentice for any kind of movement at all. Myra was true to her word. Ben cleared a path through the fire with his hand.

He glanced back.

A single tear from the girl's blue eyes made its way down her cheek. Strange, Ben thought to himself. He'd never thought he'd see… compassion?... From a user of the dark side. Having a feeling this was far from the last time they'd meet, Ben turned and left Myra alone in her circle of fire, feeling defeated and more alone than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

Several feet off of the ground, Ben Solo meditated and ventured deep within himself to find peace and health. He reached to find Jakora's soul, his laughter, his kindness, but he could not find it no matter how hard he searched. Ben's brows furrowed. "Ben. Please release yourself and talk to me," a smooth voice broke through Ben's oblivion. He opened his eyes, exposing his eyes that were wrought with pain, and gently lay his feet on the ground. "I can't find him."

"It will take time for Jakora to be able to appear as a Force ghost. He must be guided by those who came before him; even as a Jedi Knight, Jakora lacked the guidance and wisdom that my masters had. It's hard to say how long, but you won't reach his spirit for a while, Ben." Ben paused, contemplating over Luke's words. He supposed he was right. Luke motioned towards a small assortment of chairs in the back of the room, and the pair made their way over there without speaking.

"What was she like?" It had been an entire two days since the battle on Akiva, and today was the first time Ben had emerged from his room. Luke could feel his rage, his anger, his sadness radiate throughout the entire Praxeum. Ben was blaming himself for allowing Jakora to die and allowing the young Sith to escape. Now, though, Luke needed information on this new Sith apprentice that he'd only heard whispers of.

"She was powerful. Way stronger than I ever expected," Ben informed his uncle. "It was almost like fighting myself." Luke nodded.

"As to be expected. She's Darth Caedus' only pupil, and therefore receives far more diligence and intense training than any one of the Jedi here. I know you and a few others help in training the Younglings, but the girl has Caedus' undivided attention. Caedus is… a worthy opponent."

"This is what has to happen," Caedus hissed at Luke as he released his crimson saber.

"I know. He-" Ben stopped, not wishing to once again play his best friend's death in his head. Luke knew what had happened, he had seen the image in Ben's mind, for Ben did not shield this memory from his uncle. 

"I know Ben. As we learn more about our opponents, they are analyzing us, too. The dark side is cruel and unforgiving. I'm afraid that that battle was likely the easiest we will have. You need to understand that many more lives will be taken. It is the way." Ben nodded, swallowing rather hard.

"Yes, I understand." Both of them sat in silence, staring at the floor, neither sure what to say to the other. "Uncle, the girl told me that the Jedi killed her parents. Who is she?"

"I'm not sure," Luke admitted. Ben could feel the truth in his response. His uncle truly had no clue who she was. "I had fleeting suspicions in the past, but those have led me nowhere. But, it does not matter in the end." Ben nodded.

"You know her mission is to kill you. Her path to becoming a Sith, no doubt, involves killing a Skywalker," Luke quietly said, half to himself, half to Ben.

"I'll kill her before she ever gets close." At those words, Luke's head snapped towards Ben.

"Ben, no. A Jedi's mission is not to bring death, but peace. If your path leads to you killing her, so be it, but that is not the goal," Luke harshly scolded his nephew. Ben looked at the floor once more, immediately regretting what he had said. His uncle was right; Ben was fighting for the cause of the Resistance, not to destroy the First Order. Luke stood up and offered his good hand down to his nephew. "You need some life in you, kid. Let's go to the mess hall and get a good laugh in you."

~~~~~

Pain. White-hot shrieking tendrils of flames and pain snaked throughout Myra's body, coursed through her veins, attacked the marrow of her deepest bones. Her eyes were a kaleidoscope of red, white, and black. Her body racked against the floor in pain, and if she was screaming she did not know, because the pain consumed her. This hell was eternity, unable to tell what direction is up and what is down. She was nobody, nothing, just a vessel for this monstrous hell, this vile poison taking over her body.

Though it only lasted seconds, Myra was released from the hell that felt like an eternity. Her entire body fell limp, and her forehead hit the floor. Her hands grasped at the ground, and her body racked with coughs and shuddered as she took in deep breaths. A pool of saliva was smeared about the floor and created a disgusting, slimy film around her mouth. The room was silent. "My child, I can stand a loss. Taking on Darth Vader's grandson is not a task to be taken lightly. That, I can understand and blame myself for not preparing you well enough," a gnarled, twisted voice rasped from somewhere above Myra. "But to allow him to escape with no attempt to even get in his way? That, my dear Myra, is a loss that I cannot accept." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lift his hand again. She was too tired to brace for the pain anymore; this cycle of hell had been going on for the better part of two hours by now. Instead, she was lifted into the air, held by an invisible force. 

"You need to be better," Snoke rasped. He roughly set Myra on her feet. "We have failed you thus far. Continue your training under Darth Caedus." Caedus stood in the corner, watching the scene before him with no emotion expressed on his face. Of course, it hurt him to see his pupil tortured so violently, but that's simply the way it had to be. 

"Kill the boy, and all will be forgiven."

~~~~~

Back in her room, Myra sat down in the shower and curled into a ball. Her entire body ached, muscles screaming every time she moved. She hurt. Tears along with water streaked down her face, washing away the dried blood crusted under her nose and down the drain. The cuts on her body screamed in pain as the bacteria and filth was washed from them for the first time since the battle. Supreme Leader Snoke was right: she was weak. She would be nothing until she managed to kill the boy, who she had learned was the young Skywalker. He was strong, perhaps even stronger than her. Myra would need to bring more willpower and strength than she'd ever had before if she were to kill him. 

She promptly got dressed after cleansing herself, and found Caedus sitting on a chair in her bedroom. "Why did you let him leave?" he questioned, staring Myra in the eyes. She avoided eye contact at once, looking at the wall. 

"I-" she faltered. "I felt pity. I know that he's a Jedi, and we show no mercy towards them, but when I felt that void in the Force…" Myra closed her eyes before continuing on. "I couldn't get it out of my head that I, too, will feel pain in a void like that one day when it's someone close to me." Caedus was silent for a few fleeting moments.

"Naturally. You let your human slip through. Myra, to an extent, that is a natural thing for Sith to do. We embrace emotion to further our power within the dark side. However, you do understand why what you did was so wrong? Why allowing the Jedi to leave practically unscathed is a sin to the Sith?" Caedus stood up now, and comfortingly placed his hand on his pupil's shoulder. Caedus cared deeply for the girl. He had carried her when she was but a babe, crying and shivering, out of the room of Stormtroopers that had died by her abilities. In this instant, she wasn't much different, hurting and confused. Myra simply nodded at Caedus' question, and found deep comfort in affection he was showing her.

"Good. We must continue training, for I have a feeling that it won't be too long until the Jedi call for our presence once more."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I took ideas for the plot of this chapter from the Clone Wars, so some aspects may be similar. I loved the episode I took these ideas from! ALSO- THIS IS IMPORTANT- this chapter takes place about two years after the last chapter. 

"Hello, General," Ben cheerfully greeted the hologram of his mother. She was projected above a table surrounded by many of the higher-ranking Jedi at the Praxeum: Luke, Ben, Kyle Katarn, Tionne Solusar, and Corran Horn. Ben took his seat in between Luke and Kyle, who both offered a friendly nod. Leia softly smiled at her son, and began to talk.

"The Weequay pirates have contacted us and tell us that they have gotten their hands on an individual very sensitive to the Force. The individual was defending their home when the pirates raided it; upon seeing their power, the pirates burned down the village and captured the individual. They are requesting a ransom of two million units from the Jedi Order, or they'll turn the hostage over to Snoke." A soft murmur ran around the table, and was also audible from the audience that Leia held at her Resistance base. 

"Would the Resistance be willing to pay the ransom for the individual?" Luke asked Leia. Ben knew Leia would oblige; she would do nearly anything for her brother, and vice versa.

"We can just take the hostage by force. The pirates surely cannot withstand even a few Jedi?" Kyle offered. Luke and Leia both shook their heads, but it was Leia that spoke. 

"We can't make enemies of the pirates at this point in time. They continue to be a valuable source of information on the First Order," Leia responded.

"They sell weapons and information to the First Order, too," Tionne sternly told Leia, though no disrespect was found. Ben didn't give any input yet, simply taking all of the information in.

"Which is why we keep our contact very curt and short with them. At the end of the day, the pirates are a nuisance that, if hostile towards us, will take up our limited resources to deal with. A peaceful transaction is necessary." There was silence for a moment until Leia spoke up again. "They've requested that only one Jedi arrive to the planet, but I think we can get away with a guard of soldiers to accompany whoever goes."

"I'll do it," Ben spoke up. All eyes turned to him. Nobody was surprised that he volunteered himself; he was unarguably the best in lightsaber combat, and now that he was eighteen years old, far less trigger happy than he had been when he was younger. 

"Does anyone oppose?" Luke questioned the small council, almost hoping for opposition. Leia's face remained calm and stoic, but inside, she was begging for Luke to tell Ben no. Even as a young man, Leia worried for her son. She knew he was strong and she knew he was more than capable of such a job, but the pirates were so unpredictable. "Very well then. Ben, you shall go to the pirates and get ahold of the hostage. Keep things short, because they could go south very fast. Get in and out of there as fast as you can." Everyone felt uneasy about the mission, as if there was something off, but they couldn't place their finger on what exactly that was.

"A Resistance ship will meet you at the pirates' lair; I will send you the coordinates," Leia informed her son. "And Ben- be careful."

~~~~~

Strapping into his X-wing and checking a few last things before the trip, Kylo saw the council watching him from the hangar and talking amongst themselves. He wasn't worried about the transaction at all- the pirates didn't dare touch the Jedi, or they'd have Luke Skywalker to answer to. And messing with General Organa's son? Well, that was an entire different hell to mess with. Ben knew how ruthless his mother could be when she was angry. He shuddered at the thought of it. With a quick two-fingered salute, Ben roared past the council and lifted into the air. Quickly conversing with the droid aiding him, he was launched into lightspeed with one click of a button.

It had been two years since the Jedi faced the Sith for the first time. The Jedi kept peace throughout the worlds that the New Republic had control over, and went on missions to fight the First Order. Ben himself led many such peacekeeping missions… in hopes of seeing the Sith girl. He had expected to fight against her soon after the first battle, but Count Caedus and the girl had become withdrawn and mysterious. There were a few reports here and there of "Dark Jedi" appearing on Outer Rim worlds, bringing utter chaos and destruction, but the Jedi always arrived too late. The pair was quick and efficient. Ben had never caught another glimpse of the girl, but he could feel her presence in the Force. Just as he quickly grew in strength, so did she. Ben trained from sunup to sundown, meditated, grew closer and closer to the Force. He was close to becoming a Master at this point; Tionne, Kyle, and Corran had already gotten the title. It made Ben annoyed, considering he was stronger than all of them, but the others did bring important factors to the table, such as Tionne's knowledge in history.

Ben knew that if he could capture or kill Caedus or his apprentice, he could be a Jedi Master.

Before long, his ship began to beep, and Ben dropped out of lightspeed, finding himself above a sandy planet in the outer rim. On his radar, a Resistance ship blinked out of lightspeed almost the same time as him. "Ben Solo. Been a minute, huh? You a little pretty Jedi boy now?" At the sound of Poe Dameron's voice, Ben grinned widely. 

"Poe, didn't expect Leia to send you," Ben laughed.

"Well, someone's gotta look after her baby boy, and as you know, I'm the Resistance's finest soldier."

"Whatever. You have the coordinates for landing?" Ben asked.

"I have everything. But yes, let's go into landing sequence now." The pair playfully jabbed at each other back and forth as they approached the dusty planet. The Pirate's elaborate lair stitched out of many different kinds of pieces that didn't quite fit together grew closer and closer. Poe argued that they probably didn't have a prisoner at all, but Ben knew better than that. He could feel a strong ripple in the Force as he grew closer; there was someone in there that belonged at the Praxeum.

"Greetings, Resistance soliders," an ugly, marred pirate shouted out from just beyond the gate of the lair. "I didn't expect the Jedi to be bringing company."

"Cry me a river. You pirates really are dumb if you think we trust you enough to seal this deal," Poe replied. Ben held a hand up to him, and Poe shut his mouth.  
"We're just here for the hostage. I have the credits." Ben held up a small golden stick that had all of the money that the pirates requested, and not a penny more. The pirate guard murmured amongst themselves. 

"Only the Jedi may enter. The rest wait out here," the head of them grumbled. 

"No. I come with him," Poe burst in to Ben's dismay. From behind the guard, another pirate burst through, this one uglier and more scarred then the rest, donning a thick pair of goggles on his face.  
"Ah, Poe Dameron. Of course. The rest stay." Ben and Poe shared a quick glance, neither of them all too worried. The pair had become quite the duo on Resistance missions; between Poe's wit and quick mouth and Ben's power and strength, they were a force to be reckoned with.

"Wait out here, closeby. Don't let your guard down, and keep your radios on," Poe told the Resistance orders in a low voice. Turning back around, the pair made their way towards the menacing pirates at the gate of the lair. Poe's BB-8 unit attempted to follow, but a soldier held his foot out, stopping the droid who made one small, sad noise before stopping. Once they passed the gate, the doors slowly made their way shut. Poe winced at every creak the rusty metal let out. He didn't trust that the place would collapse down on top of them altogether. 

The moment they crossed the walls of the compound, Ben nearly fell to his knees. He felt as though a part of him had just been ripped away; his head began to ache and his limbs felt far heavier than normal. The head pirate let out a loud, guttural laugh. "I see you don't like my Ysalamir?"

"Ysalamir?" Poe exclaimed in disbelief. "You asked a Jedi to come here to bargain and you kept your Ysalamir?" 

The pirate with the goggles laughed as Ben slowly steadied himself. His head felt fuzzy. He couldn't sense anything, he couldn't feel anything. For the first time in his life, he felt completely naked and powerless. If this is what it feels like to be normal… Ben had heard stories of enemies of the Jedi bringing Ysalamir to neutralize the Force, but they were extremely rare, expensive, and he'd never felt their effects before. The Ysalamir made the Jedi's powers useless, and left them to the physical strength and wit that they contained without using the Force. "I'm not stupid. I trust the Resistance enough to not pull a fast one on me, but I cannot risk losing what I have to a single Jedi."

"You really are a skeezeball. I thought that the rumors of you kidnapping children to entertain you were lies, but I guess now I know that you'd definitely sink to that level," Poe humored albeit very angrily. A pirate prodded him with a stick that delivered a small shock, and Poe scowled. Meanwhile, Ben was trying to deal with the effects the Ysalamir brought. He walked slowly and carefully next to the head pirate. 

"I'm Hondo, my boy, and you'd be careful not to mess with me." Ben simply nodded at his words.   
The rest of the walk was rather silent, aside from a few jabs here and there from Poe. He talked to himself as they went along, uneasily eyeing the architecture around them, just waiting for it to smother them all. The further and further down the party went, the cooler and damper the air grew. Every once in a while, they'd pass a tank embedded in the walls containing yellow and orange lizards with six eyes. Ben winced every time they directly passed by a tank. Poe couldn't help but think the lizards looked sad- after all, they weren't malicious creatures.   
The party approached a thick, heavy set of rusted metal doors with two beefy pirates standing guard outside of it, fully outfitted in all sorts of weapons. With one curt nod, Hondo passed them, and the door swung open. The air it let out was musty and stale, full of sweat, piss, and other biological scents. There were rows and rows of cages, some inhabited by aliens of all shapes and sizes, some inhabited by moaning humans crying out for help. Poe had to force himself to look at the ground instead of this sickening sight. He desperately wished he could help some of the faces in here, but it would've been against all of Leia's wishes. Ben, on the other hand, found himself entranced on one of the cages.

A blonde head turned around to meet Ben's eyes.

She was here.

He had found her.


	8. Chapter 8

Ben almost didn't hear Hondo's guttural, bellowing laugh. Almost. "I see you are surprised, Mister Jedi. I couldn't risk sending any transmission of news pertaining the Sith girl."

"Sith?" Poe exclaimed, whipping around. Fury burned within him. He hated the Weequay, he always had, but the more and more this visit went on, the more and more he grew frustrated with their lies. 

"We were raiding a small fleet of theirs that had landed near a village we were going to raid anyways. My precious Ysalamir did their pretty little trick, and I knew that the Resistance would pay a pretty penny to capture one of the enemy's most valuable assets." Hondo explained.

"You could've told us that that's what we were dealing with- we would've brought a guard for our ships!" Poe exclaimed incredulously. Their chatter was nothing to Ben- just mumbled, muted words blocked out by his focus on the girl. Their eyes met. "So we meet again, Skywalker."

"His name's Ben Solo, bottom-feeder," Poe interrupted, and went back to squabbling with Hondo. 

"So we do," Ben replied, folding his arms behind his back and taking a few steps towards the cage she was trapped in. "Tell me, how exactly, such a powerful and deadly Sith allows herself to be captured by a few measly pirates?"

"You know what their little pets can do. You can feel it, I know you can, because I know you can't feel anything," Myra coolly replied. Ben said nothing, because she was right. Ben turned when Poe called his name.

"He wants even more credits now!" Poe angrily told Ben. 

"And the Resistance will give what Hondo requests," Ben said, pulling Poe aside, far enough away so none of the pirates could hear him. "She is invaluable. We're lucky they contacted us at all.”

"Whaddya gonna do with her? She can't go to the Praxeum, I don't think any Resistance bases are capable of containing a Sith," Poe said in a deep voice to Ben, eyes full of concern. Poe understood how valuable capturing a Sith was to the Resistance, but he couldn't see any path in which this wouldn't go South.

"A Jedi guard wherever she goes. I alone am enough to contain her; she won't be able to overpower several Masters. That's what this will take, and I know Luke will agree." Poe nodded at Ben's words, and the pair turned back around, only to be met with a sharp flash of pain in their heads and then darkness.

Myra was rather displeased to see the Jedi and the pilot rendered unconscious by the pirates. "You really are scum," Myra scoffed. She was hoping to get far enough from the base with them to be out of reach from the Ysalamir, and escape back to the Supremacy. Instead, the pirates forced her into the back of the cage with their reaching electric weapons, and dragged the Jedi and the other man into the cage with her. Hondo shrugged from where he stood.

"Whatever the Resistance will pay, the First Order will offer thrice that." Myra shook her head, but knew she was right. The First Order would go to any length to overcome the Resistance, and she had no doubt that Caedus would give the full support of the Sith behind the deal. Sighing, she sat down in the one chair the cage offered, and watched as her captors left the door. One of the pirates approached the cage with glowing clamps.

"What are you doing?" Myra asked suspiciously, her tone rising. She backed against the back wall of the cage, warily eyeing the pirate. 

"Cannot have any separation. The First Order will not be happy if I allow a Jedi and a spicerunner to escape," Hondo explained in his gravelly, guttural tone. The pirate clamped the device around Myra's left wrist. It was connected to a similar glowing rope that he similarly clamped to one of Poe's and Ben's wrist. There was no use in arguing. Myra only groaned and slumped into the one meager chair that the pirates provided in the cage. The door clanked shut, and she miserably watched as her captors left the chamber. The Skywalker and his friend were still breathing; that was good enough, she supposed. I don't want them to die, she thought to herself. Not by hands that are not mine, anyway.

~~~~~

Inky blackness enveloped Ben, swallowing him. He cried for help but their was no air to breathe, no breath to give. As he fell through the billowing sheet of blackness, he found himself in a dark room. "Who's there?" Ben called out, gasping and struggling to breathe. He felt like a fish out of water. Lightning began to flash in the sky around him, ominous and crackling. Maniacal laughter, and then Ben was ripped into his painful reality. Head throbbing, he reached for his lightsaber only to find it missing from his side. His other hand felt restricted. Slowly turning his head, he saw a glowing device entrapped around his wrist. "About time you're awake, buddy," he heard a voice say to him. Still groggy, Ben winced at the sound of the voice. His head was splitting. "What happened?"

"Oh, you know. Poe Dameron was just right yet again. Knew you couldn't trust those bastards," Poe sarcastically exclaimed.

"Just proves further the inferiority of the Resistance," Myra dryly said, earning a glare from Poe. The girl.  
Ben sat up as fast as he could, facing the girl. She, too, was connected to him and Poe. "See what I mean, Jedi?" She snidely asked with a dry smile. "This is how they get you." The trio sat in silence for a few moments, until, as always, Poe broke it.

"So uh, bottom-feeder, soul-sucker, and maggot are starting to get kind of old. What's your name, kid, and how did you end up with the First Order?" Myra simply lifted her nose into the air. She wasn't going to disclose anything to these two… especially not the Skywalker. "Alright then. I'm Poe Dameron."

"Well, I've heard of you."

"As the best pilot in the galaxy, right?" Poe quipped. Myra laughed.

"No, as the worst spicerunner," Ben couldn't help but grin. His vision began to clear. He wanted to joke with Poe, to forget the situation and adapt, but he couldn't. He had to get back to the Praxeum, get the girl back to the Praxeum. 

"So Ben, uh, you know me," Poe said as he reached into his pocket with his free hand, "and you know, as the most intelligent man in the galaxy, I always have a plan." 

~~~~~

"Now," Myra hissed as the guards turned around and began to walk to the other end of the dungeon. Poe stood up and began fumbling with the rusted lock trapping them in the cage with his hand tools he'd kept in his pocket. Maybe Resistance soldiers aren't as brainless as I thought, Myra thought to herself. Poe and Ben Skywalker, the boy she'd vowed to kill, agreed to work together with Myra to escape. They hadn't put much thought into what was going to happen after that. Quietly, Poe made quick work of the cheap lock and slipped it into his pocket. The guards were at the far end of the chamber now, backs still turned to them. "What are you waiting for? Let's go," Poe whispered as he began to push the door open. Myra grabbed one of the metal bars and pulled it back into place.

"You think we're supposed to just get by the guards outside of that door, too?" Myra reasoned, motioning to the doors that led to the outside. Poe just stared at her, furrowing his eyebrows. "No. We wait for the guards to get here, get their weapons, and then we make a break for it." Ben nodded.

"You up for a fight without the Force?" He questioned with a small smirk on his face. Myra narrowed her eyes.

"I think I'm rather capable of handling myself in a fight, Skywalker." The trio sat, muscles tensed yet not acting suspicious, as the guards made their way back towards the cage in which they were held. Just as the guards passed them, Ben and Myra emerged swiftly from the cage and delivered swift punches to the back of the guards' heads, who dropped their electric prodders with loud clangs. Some cheers began to erupt from other prisoners. The fight was difficult since both Myra and Ben only had one arm to work with. Poe slipped out of the cage just as Myra slipped her arm around one of the guard's necks, slightly struggling to keep a hold of the kicking pirate as she squeezed the breath out of him. Beside her, Ben watched with one raised eyebrow. He had already rendered his guard unconscious with swift, accurate punch to the temple. Poe was already stripping the pirate of his blaster, while Kylo picked up the prodder. Myra's guard stopped struggling, and she waited for a few extra seconds of stillness before dropping him to the ground. Grabbing his prodder, she scowled at Ben. "I didn't need help, did I?"

Ben and Myra burst through the doors to the dungeon and swung their prodders at the outside guards before the guards even had a chance to react. Both shrieked as several volts of electricity coursed through their bodies. Removing the prodder, both Ben and Myra hit the pirates hard enough to render them unconscious as their bodies still shook from the electricity. "Well, that was easy," Poe exclaimed as he strolled out of the doors behind them, two blasters in hand. Ben playfully frowned as he looked back at Poe, while Myra just ignored the quip. They began to swiftly move through the dark, damp hallways, not passing a single guard. 

"Must be celebrating the nice chunk of cash they think they're about to get," Ben remarked. "We need to find a radio before we escape the compound, and call in the Resistance." 

"No, we need to find the keys to these shackles so I can actually fight," Myra quickly said back. "And besides, it's not just the Resistance you're calling." There was silence as all three of them acknowledged the tricky situation ahead. If they called both forces, a definite fight would emerge. Neither Myra nor Ben and Poe were keen on becoming prisoners to the other, either. None of them said anything in response to Myra. 

"Can we find our sabers?" Myra whispered to Ben as the halls ventured further and further towards the surface of the pirate compound.

"Obviously, but it'll be tricky to find them," he whispered back, peeking around a corner. 

"You really think so?" A voice called out from behind the trio. Turning around, Myra saw a guard of pirates emerge from the corner that they had just passed. Poe raised his blasters and took down three pirates, but the other five came charging at them, weapons and all. Poe turned back around, eyes wide. "RUN!" The three broke out into an awkward sprint, restricted by their bonds. Luckily, the guard didn't wield blasters, and even connected, the three were still far faster than the pirates were. Still, more and more pirates joined the chase. They climbed through the compound, Ben's and Myra's eyes carefully searching for any trace of daylight. Daylight meant a place to escape, daylight meant they could feel the Force again. Poe was just running, occasionally sending blaster shots behind him into the throng of pirates. The grip of the Ysalamir still held strong on Ben and Myra, and they grew more and more aware of their fatigue, of their muscles growing tired, of their breaths shortening with the aid of the Force that they were so used to. No longer was it able to provide them with lasting energy and stamina. Now, they relied purely on all of the skills they'd developed during their physical training. Myra began to lag slightly behind Ben.

"Come on, we need to keep going!" Ben shouted as both Poe and Myra began to hold him back.

"We can't keep this up forever! We need to find a way out of here!" Poe shouted back in between breaths. Myra closed her eyes as they ran.

"Poe," she breathed as she opened her eyes. "Shoot the Ysalamir." 

"What?"

"DO IT!" Myra shouted back. Without hesitation, Poe began to shoot at every Ysalamir, caged in the walls and hanging from the ceilings, that he could see. With every blaster sound, Myra's and Ben's senses began to grow ever-so clearer. They were above ground at this point. The air was fresher, and she just began to get that feeling. Suddenly, Ben darted into a hallway that branched off of the main one. He, too, couldn't yet feel the Force but could feel something. In any case, something was better than nothing. At this point, the throng of pirates chasing them had grown immense, and the trio had to dodge all sorts of objects and weapons being thrown at them. Poe continued his barrage against the clueless Ysalamir, easier in such a small and narrow hallway. Up ahead, a large gap in the metal forming the walls of the compound grew apparent. It appeared to be an old hole from a blaster that the pirates had grown too lazy to repair. "Ben, where we going buddy?" Poe shouted up to the front.

"I think I've found a way ou-" he was abruptly cut off by something- no, someone dropping in front of them. Ben skidded to a stop, and both Myra and Poe crashed into his back. Ben took the impact yet did not fall. He stood tall and strong against Hondo, who'd dropped from a chamber in the ceiling above them. 

"Have you, my boy?" Hondo said with a laugh. The throng of pirates had caught up with them, and they began to form a circle around the three. Poe warily eyed the pirates, holding his hand in the air as they threatened him with electric prodders. He dropped his blasters. 

"No, no, my boys, do not hurt him… yet. You can have him for soup after we sell the Jedi and the Sith," Hondo loudly told his soldiers. All of the pirates began to laugh, and Poe's stomach dropped at the idea of being eaten by these vile creatures. 

"Listen here," Hondo said, taking a step toward Ben and Myra, who now stood shoulder to shoulder and glared at the commanding pirate. "Funny little trick, but it cost the life of your friend. I'm sure the Resistance will duly notice the lack of your presence when they pay your ransom," he said, nodding at Poe. "You will comply, you will return to the cages, and you will accept the fact that both the First Order and the Resistance will now have to pay an even more monumental price for the loss of so many of my dear Ysalamir. After all, the General Leia Organa I know would sell the entire Resistance if it meant saving her precious little boy," Hondo mocked. Anger washed over Ben, dulling his senses. 

"Ben, stop," Myra hissed from between her teeth, being able to feel his muscles tensed. Ben moved no further. Myra's eyes flicked up to the gaping hole in the wall… maybe, maybe we could make this work. She ignored Hondo's taunts at Ben while closing her eyes.

Breathe.

Feel.

Surround yourself with it.

Ben could feel Myra connecting with the Force, shaking and using all feasible strength to do so. The effects of the Ysalamir were still in the air as Poe had missed a few, but Myra was straining and pushing farther than she'd ever had to before to connect.

The moment she did, she opened her eyes, and leaped towards the gap. Ben simultaneously connected.

How? He thought to himself while leaping towards the hole. He had not focused, he had been blinded by anger, he didn't even try. What did Myra do to him? 

As both Myra and Ben leaped, their connective force dragged Poe through the air behind them. As they breached through the hole, Myra's stomach dropped.

Because there was a two hundred foot drop outside of the wall.


	9. Chapter 9

Myra groggily sat up, rubbing the back of her head. The soft sand had definitely cushioned their landing, and now that they were completely out of the influence of the Ysalamir, she imagined that both her and Ben had broken their fall with the Force without a second thought. Likewise, Ben and Poe sat in the sand beside her, but they were laughing. "Are you kidding me? We actually pulled that off?" Poe laughed, shaking his head. Myra went to stand, but was tugged back down by the restraints that were unfortunately, probably the strongest thing that the pirates owned.

"Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?" Poe asked Myra in a sweet tone of voice.

"I'm getting out of here. Caedus should know where I am by now; I can guarantee you that the Empire is already on their way," Myra stated matter-of-factly.

"Well what makes you think the Resistance isn't going to be here first?" Ben asked Myra. She shook her head, sighing.

"Look, if the Empire gets here first, I may be able to let you guys go. First, we have to find a way to get these damn restraints off, and I doubt we're going to find anything in this sea of sand. We need to get back to your ships," Myra said to Ben and Poe. 

"And take you prisoner?" Ben asked. Myra turned to face him and found his face only a few inches away from hers. She jerked her head back quickly.

"I don't- I wouldn't- you know what Caedus can do," Myra said in a low tone to Ben. His eyes momentarily darkened when reminded of the loss of his best friend. He looked at the sand.

"What, we can't just let her go, Ben, she's a Sith," Poe angrily exclaimed.

Sometimes, the best thing to do isn't always the right thing to do, Luke's voice echoed in Ben's head. "We have to let her go for now. We can't risk bringing Caedus to a Resistance base. He will find her regardless of where she is. She's too much of a threat a prisoner right now than a threat freely roaming the galaxy," Ben reasoned to Poe. Poe brought his mouth close to Ben's ear and whispered.

"Why can't we just execute her?" He faintly whispered. Myra could not hear Poe's words, but felt a pang of emotion spike in the Jedi across from her. Whatever Poe said, he was struggling with. Ben gave Poe no answer, and Poe painfully watched as Ben turned back to the girl. 

"Fine. Regardless of who comes first, the other walks free," Ben told Myra, connecting his chocolate eyes with her blue. She nodded in agreement.

"And if you violate that, I won't hesitate to kill you, Skywalker," Myra smoothly and calmly told Ben. His eyes stared into hers.

"It's Solo." 

Hours later, the trio was still trudging around the base of the cliff that they had fallen off of. They had to go around the cliff and climb back up a sandy incline to reach where their ships were, and the end of the cliff was nearing. The entire walk, Poe was silent. His mouth was parched, his head was pounding, every muscle in his body crying out for rest. Myra and Ben drew energy and stamina for the Force, which they knew would tire them out in the long run, but for now, they were pushing through the sand.

"How did you find the Force?" Ben asked Myra. She considered not answering, but he had been kind enough to her in the past day.

"I was born into the Empire. My parents were killed by the Jedi, so Caedus raised me," she explained to Ben. "I think the Force was always something very present within me. I would ask you the same question, but the entire galaxy knows your family." Myra paused as Ben nodded. "Is it a blessing or a curse?" Ben had to think about his answer for a moment.

"Both a blessing and a curse. I get to carry on a legacy, I'm a Jedi, I have the comfort of knowing that someone will always care about me- but I'm never seen as my own person, I'm always Skywalker or Solo- never just Ben." Myra looked down, feeling slightly guilty for never referring to him by Ben. She quickly shook the feeling, realizing she shouldn't feel bad for a Jedi, the type of Force wielder that had murdered her parents. "It's how I found the Force." Myra didn't press. She didn't expect Ben to reveal something so personal to her. He continued on to her surprise. "You know, being the son of General Leia Organa, one of the most important people in the New Republic, grandson of Darth Vader, nephew of Luke Skywalker- I was kind of a big deal. In the spotlight. I mean, when I was a kid, I loved it. To a certain extent, I still don't mind the attention. When I was six years old, one of the senators that worked closely with Leia devised a plot to kidnap me for money."

"Seems to be a theme with you, getting ransomed," Poe weakly quipped from the back, earning a smile from Myra. Ben ignored him and continued. 

"Five men broke into my room at night. They tried to kidnap me- and, I don't remember what exactly happened- but my parents found all five men dead on my floor by the time they realized what happened. Their brains were turned into liquid. I guess I did that. That's when they brought me to Luke," Ben quietly explained, eyes trained on the ground. Myra remained silent. She didn't know what to say because she was so astounded that his story was so familiar to hers. They remained in silence for a few moments before Myra broke it.

"The same thing happened for me. For different reasons, of course. Stormtroopers took me from my room while Caedus was on a mission, and planned to escape the Empire with the money they made from selling me. To who, I'll never know, but Caedus expects it was a Hut. Before they left, they-" Myra took a deep breath. "Stripped me down. I don't know what they were going to do to me, I still don't know if anything happened, but all thirty of them had fought each other to the death. It was unnatural, claw marks and biting and everything you'd expect a Stormtrooper not to do. That's the day that Caedus started my training." There was yet another moment of silence.

"I guess training in the ways of the Force isn't all it's' cracked up to be," Ben softly replied, easing the negative emotions in the air. "But there's positives in everything, right?" Myra simply nodded. She knew Caedus was going to be disappointed in her for allowing herself to be captured, and she was dreading that more than the inevitable punishment from Snoke. "I guess- I guess I didn't expect the Sith to have feelings," Ben rather bluntly admitted. Poe snorted from behind them, and Myra quickly snapped her head towards him.

"What?"

"You know, dark side users? I never expected them to be so rational, so calm, so… normal. I mean, I know my grandfather was, but I assumed that anyone to follow the Sith after his epiphany would have to be insane…" Ben trailed off.

"We are no different from the Jedi," Myra said in a scorning tone. "We have a code of honor, ethics, values, morals. We practice the Force, we embrace it, we use it in our every day lives. But we embrace emotion, we use it to power us, we use it to further strengthen our connection with the Force."

"Emotion always leads to downfall- Anakin Skywalker's life turned upside down when he allowed his emotion to come in contact with the Force."

"I'm not arguing about this right now," Myra sighed, shaking her head. "You're not going to convince me that the Jedi aren't evil. They murdered my parents. End of story." Ben didn't respond, feeling Myra's stubbornness and resolution. In a way, he felt pity for her. She seemed to have commitment, passion, talent- she would've made a wonderful Jedi. Alas, the Force works in mysterious ways, and Ben shook his head when he realized he was beginning to sympathize with a Sith. Even though his relationship with his father wasn't great, he couldn't imagine a life without his parents. 

Soon, the three began to ascend a sandy hill. About halfway up, Poe collapsed from exhaustion and likely dehydration, and Ben and Myra had to work together to use the Force to float the pilot behind them. Both of them wanted to put in more Force than the other, more effort, to prove their strength to each other, while the delirious Poe kept sputtering nonsense in midair. It was a subtle struggle of power that was never addressed out loud, but rather obvious through the gritting of teeth and straining of muscles. 

As they were almost to the crest of the hill. Myra stopped. "Ben." She said, turning to the Jedi. Myra wiped sweat off of her brow, but it didn't dry her skin at all. Ben turned, sweat dripping from his face onto the sand. "Our deal. You let me go, I let you go." Ben nodded right away, just wanting to get onto a cool ship with water.

They crested the hill, and almost immediately, a guard of Resistance troops began to run over to them. With uncanny timing, Caedus' ship with three TIE fighters emerged from light speed above the surface of the planet, quickly descending. Ben glanced at Myra, nodding. "Who's this?" One of the Resistance soldiers asked Ben as others surrounded Poe and picked him up, pouring water onto his face.

"She's nobody, a prisoner that helped us escape," Ben explained. "What did the pirates tell you?" In response, a soldier stepped forward with Hondo's head in his hand. Ben simply nodded in response. 

"And these were recovered from the pirate, sir. We think the other belongs to the Sith that the pirates claimed to have captured, but we found no trace of them," the solider apologetically explained, producing both Ben and Myra's lightsabers. In the blink of an eye, Ben called his saber to his hand and cut the bond between Ben, Myra, and Poe. At that point, Caedus' ship had landed, and the ramp was beginning to lower.

"Solo, we need to get out of here, now. We don't have the capacity to take on the Empire." The solider didn't even acknowledge Myra. Ben nodded. "Leave, then. I'm capable of handling my ship right now." The solider nodded and returned to the transport whose ramp was rapidly beginning to close. Now, Ben turned to Myra, and offered her her saber rather reluctantly. 

She took it, and Ben grabbed her wrist. Myra tensed up.

Ben reached for his neck.

He removed a thin chain with a small charm at the end, a small charm resembling an old Corellian freight cruiser. 

"Take this. So you'll know where to find me." 

He dropped the necklace into her hands. She didn't know what to say.

"Leave, now." Myra turned to look at the Imperial ship and saw Caedus standing on the ramp, arms clasped behind his back. She gave one last look to Ben. "Thank you."

"Wait!" Ben called out as Myra had just began to return to her Master. "I never learned your name."

Myra smiled and continued onto her ship.

A whisper formed in Ben's head with the traces of the sweetness of the blond girl's voice.

Myra.


	10. Chapter 10

Ben sat on the balcony in his bedroom at the Praxeum, eyes closed as he allowed the warm golden sunrise to warm his skin. He was focusing on the Force, channeling it, strengthening him, making his bond with it closer and closer. Warmth flooded his bones, strength, clarity, wisdom. He felt the spirits of Jedi past whispering, passing through him, becoming one with him. 

A flash of blonde hair

Ben's concentration faltered as he felt the Force signature of his uncle approach. Opening his eyes, Ben stood up and turned to face his uncle, who had just entered his room. "Good morning," Luke cheerily told his nephew, taking a seat on large rug on the balcony. Ben sat down beside his uncle. It had been two weeks since he had been rescued from the Weequay, and although Luke wasn't happy with Ben for allowing the Sith girl to escape, he was happy that Ben and Poe were alive and well. Ben was embarrassed to come back to the Praxeum and tell his tale of getting imprisoned, but nobody blamed him when the Ysalamir were mentioned. Now, the Resistance and the Jedi were receiving all sorts of news about the Sith wreaking havoc on planets throughout the galaxy. The two sat in peaceful silence, watching the jungle around the Praxeum come to life as the sun began to shine her light on the planet. "I can sense that you're growing stronger, closer to the light side and closer to the Force. Still; something holds you back," Luke softly told his nephew. Ben didn't say anything.

"And, I think I know what holds you back." Luke said with a gleam in his eye. "It's perfectly normal for Jedi with your power and ambition to be tempted by the dark side- I was once in your shoes. Don't let her fool you, Ben. The path of the dark side is much more painful, awful than she shows."

"I know that, Luke. I do. She just-" his voice faltered. "She seemed so normal. So human. Like someone you could find here, you know? She wasn't evil, she wasn't insane. Myra was-"

"Myra?" Luke questioned. Ben could feel Luke's senses quickly spike. 

"She told me her name."

"Myra." Luke repeated to himself. 

"Does that name hold significance to you?" Ben questioned suspiciously.

"No, not it does not," Luke admitted, and Ben could sense he wasn't lying. "As I've told you before, I've had suspicions of who the girl was, but she truly must be nobody. Caedus was lucky to have found her, so strong and so connected to the Force."

"When we were trapped by the pirates, she pushed through the remaining Ysalamir's bubbles and connected to the Force. When she did, so did I- but I wasn't even trying," Ben admitted to his uncle. "I don't know what happened."

"Well, you are a Skywalker and a Solo. She is a nobody, but you are the descendant of some of the strongest Force users in history. I wouldn't look too far into that."

The two sat in silence for a few moments more. "Anyways, I need your lesson with the Padawans to start a few hours early today. There's to be a council meeting tonight. Leia has something urgent to say." Luke paused. "And Han-your father- will be present." Ben tensed up at the mention of his father.

"Alright," Ben simply responded. After Luke left, Ben leaned against the wall, unable to get Myra out of his head. Only now, it was now longer visions of him carving through her with a lightsaber, but visions of further understanding her and the dark side of the Force. Though he'd given Myra the necklace, he hadn't felt her Force signature. She was keeping herself in the dark, away from the necklace. Ben wished that she knew that he didn't want to necessarily kill her. He just wanted to understand her.

To her surprise, she didn't receive torture from Snoke. No pain was inflicted, and very little shame was brought. While she did receive light punishment from Snoke in the form of no food for two days for allowing herself to be so easily captured by pirates, Snoke applauded her otherwise. Caedus and Snoke explained that by revealing herself emotionally to the Jedi, to Ben, that she was beginning to tempt him. To show him that the dark side isn't purely rage and evil. That Sith aren't simply out to murder everyone. They congratulated Myra for making it harder for Ben Solo to kill her. 

And, they gave Myra the mission she had begun to dread.

She would become a Sith Lord if Ben Solo was killed by her hand. 

The thought should've thrilled her and excited her. However, the more days that passed, the more she questioned that mission. He had shown compassion and kindness to her, a girl that had caused the death of his best friend, of his comrade, in times of struggle. He could've killed Myra, he could've captured her, but he let her live and leave. 

He was rather easy on the eyes, too.

Stop it, Myra. She shook the image of his chocolate brown eyes, the floppy mess of dark hair, the crooked grin out of her head. That didn't matter. Sitting on her bed, there was a sharp knock on the door. Myra immediately reached out and felt Caedus on the other side, and with a swift wave of her hand, opened the door for Caedus to enter. He briskly walked into the bedroom, and Myra shut the door behind him.

Myra's room was simple, with little personal touches. There was simply a bed, a small cooler for food, a sink, a toilet, a shower, a couch, and a few small tables and dressers. She had little trinkets here and there from journeys to planets with different odds and ends, or trophies from powerful enemies she'd conquered. 

Of course, the necklace Ben Solo had given her was tucked away in a corner where nobody would find.

Caedus sat on the bed next to Myra. They were both adorned in light garments as they'd both just woken up. "I sense a reluctance in you, little one," Caedus told her. Myra tucked her legs into her arms, and she rested her chin on her knees.

"He just seemed so normal. I just- I've never felt a connection like that with someone, let alone a Jedi," Myra softly admitted to Caedus. 

"That's the light side tempting you. You know that the Jedi allow no relationships, no emotions, no feelings- that's how they trap them," Caedus gently explained to Myra. He cared for her- after the passing of his wife and the murder of his children, Myra had sparked new life within Caedus. He loved her dearly, and cared for her. He was so proud of who she was becoming, and yearned for the day where she'd become a Sith Lord alongside him. 

But, that also meant that he had to steer her away from any behavior that would bring pain upon her from Snoke. 

"I know that. I just don't know if I yet have what it takes to kill him," Myra admitted, tucking her face down. She let out a deep sigh. "It'll be worth it, I know that. I guess becoming a Sith Lord isn't as easy as I thought it would be, huh."

"It never is," he admitted with a bittersweet smile. "Get dressed, Myra. We're departing soon." He stroked the side of her head tenderly, and then swiftly got up and left the room. Myra sighed once more. She couldn't disappoint Caedus, and failing to kill Ben would certainly do that. Heavy-hearted, Myra started to reach for her closet to don her armor and cloak. 

Before she left, she tucked the necklace inside a hidden pocket inside of her jacket.


	11. Chapter 11

Han nervously glanced around the hangar. Chewbacca let out a few frustrated noises beside him. "I know, you big furball. But they're probably pissed at me, which is why I can't just march right in there like I own the place."

Chewie let out a few more noises, and Han went to reply, but he saw Leia and Luke enter the hangar. Behind them was Ben. His hair had grown longer, and he'd certainly grown older since the last time Han had been around. Han missed watching his son grow. He gave Leia a soft smile and embraced her tightly, pressing her head into his chest. There were no words exchanged between the two. Although he would never admit it, Han missed the sassy woman constantly. After Leia pulled away, he embraced Luke, who was more than happy to see Han. Luke himself was too busy to worry about missing Han much, and almost understood Han's absence to a certain extent.

Ben warily eyed his father, and reached his hand out. Han firmly grasped his son's arm, shaking it. "You've gotten older, eh?" 

"Yea," Ben responded curtly.

"Heard ya beat up some Sith?" Han asked as he playfully messed with Ben's hair.

"I guess you could call it that," he replied cheerfully.

"We need to get to the meeting," Leia interrupted. "Poe retrieved important intel from Imperial spies, and it needs to be acted upon immediately."

"It has been revealed that the Empire is planning on invading Naboo," Leia announced to the rather large meeting that had been called. Gasps and murmurs spread throughout the auditorium. "The first attack will begin tonight. That will be the one tempting the Resistance to step in- it's an ambush. Of course, the Resistance will not respond to the third wave of attacks, which will come in the early morning."

"General Organa, this means we will risk losing many lives on that planet, innocent lives," a voice cried out from the crowd. 

"That is a risk we must accept. The first wave of attacks is a trap! We are lucky to have this intel to warn us of this. Otherwise, our entire fleet could've been wiped out, and Naboo completely taken over. Naboo is an important swing planet right now, and we desperately need to continue to have control over it." Deep down, Han and Luke knew why this was so important to Leia, aside from the fact that it was a politically and geographically important planet- this is the home of her mother. The mother of the Skywalker twins was born and raised on Naboo- Leia would do whatever it took to keep Naboo under control of the New Republic and Resistance. "The Resistance is sending a fleet to the third attack as well- the New Republic will not be alone."

Nobody argued with her. Everyone understood the importance of Mid-Rim planets, especially Naboo. Either way, nobody argued with Leia except for Han, Luke, and of course, her son. Luke spoke up from beside Leia. "The Jedi are joining the New Republic in this fight- we will lead the ground forces once the Empire reaches the forest. We will protect the city and the citizens of Naboo while Resistance forces evacuate the city." Murmurs of approval spread through the room. Everyone felt safer when the Jedi joined in on battles, especially one of this magnitude. Luke's growing New Jedi Order was quickly growing stronger and stronger, much to everyone's pleasure. While the meeting continued, Luke summoned Ben and the pair exited the meeting room.

"This is going to be a dangerous battle, and we'll need nearly all hands on deck. Every Master, every night, and the stronger Padawans will need to be there," Luke said to Ben. 

"Padawans? I don't know if they're ready for this important of a battle, Luke," Ben responded. 

"They're ready. If Caedus and the gi- Myra, show up, then the Masters and you can handle them. You can handle Myra, I know you can. Ben, do not give in. You are an example to the knights and to the Padawans- if this battle goes right, the council may grant you the title of Master." Ben's heart skipped a beat. Master! This was everything that he had ever trained for.

But, he would have to face Myra in order to do so. He couldn't kill her. But he could convince her.

The battle had roared all night long. The Empire began at dusk by requesting that Naboo surrender or face siege. They gave them until morning to surrender. Of course, the proud people refused almost immediately. General Hux and Caedus were not at all surprised that the Resistance and New Republic learned of the ambush idea. In fact, Caedus had not expected that plan to work at all. They'd have to beat their enemies through pure strength and wit. 

Now, Caedus and Myra were piloting a ship to the forests of Naboo, just outside of the capitol city. They already sensed the Jedi waiting for them. They did not have the element of surprise, but Caedus wasn't worried. Luke had brought Padawans- if him and Myra could kill a few of them, the morale of the Jedi would drop as a result from their spike in emotion and sadness. Jedi weren't equipped to fight well with that kind of baggage, and Caedus knew they'd be able to overpower the Jedi. Myra, on the other hand, was dreading the fight.

She didn't want to face Ben.

But she had to.

She had to kill him.

Stepping off of the ship, the crisp, fresh air of the forest reached Myra's nose. This truly was a beautiful planet, and Myra hated to see burning ships crashing into the trees and city, ruining the landscape. In the distance, Myra could sense the Jedi waiting for the Sith. 

She could feel Ben, but he had managed to cut off his emotions. Interesting. She could sense his Force signature, but nothing else, and that was his choice. "Myra… no matter what happens today, remember who you are and remember your mission." Myra nodded at Caedus' words. 

"Of course, Master."

The two walked down the ramp of the ship together.

Almost immediately, a barrage of blue, green, orange, yellow, and all different color lightsabers flew at them. Without thinking, Myra's hands went to work, red saber clashing against the Jedi. Her and Caedus held the five Jedi at bay, deflecting their attacks and making small jabs of their own. Finish them, Myra heard in her head. She slid underneath the swing of a saber and rolled to avoid the strike of another, and jumping up, she lifted her saber above her head-

And struck it into the ground. The Earth trembled from the shock of the Force wave, and their five attackers fell to their feet, stunned. With no words, Caedus gave a nod of approval and the pair continued to run towards the city. She was growing closer to Ben, she could feel it.

Myra and Caedus reached a clearing in the forest, and stopped in the middle, understanding what was happening. Flashes of light surrounded them in the treeline. "So it comes to this, Darth Caedus," she heard a voice call out. Both Myra and Caedus turned to the source of the voice.

Luke Skywalker.

"Ah, my dear Skywalker, it does come to this. And you know how this will end," Caedus calmly replied.

Myra's eyes searched the treeline for Ben's familiar figure, but he was nowhere to be found. She could feel him, though. He was there somewhere.

"It'll end with the destruction of the Sith, of the dark side. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but that's how this will end," Luke replied to Caedus.

"Let this end in death," Caedus barked before swiftly making a move for Luke. At once, all hell broke loose. Stormtroopers emerged from the trees behind the treeline, taking the Jedi by surprise. Even Luke hadn't expected Caedus and Myra to rely on help from Stormtroopers. Several of the Jedi were now distracted by the new troopers, and Myra found herself facing three young Jedi. "Die, scum," a young girl hissed at her. Myra grinned….

And leaped into the air with no notice. The young girl had barely any time to react, and found herself with a deep cut to the shoulder, barely leaving it hanging on. The girl screamed. Just as Myra landed, the other two Jedi started at her, swinging heavily and quickly- from what she had to guess, the girl was a Padawan, and the other two were Knights- young Knights at that. They fought hastily and bravely, but with little foresight. They fought in respect to the immediate future and did not plan their attacks out more than one or two moves. But, they were strong, and while Myra had no problem predicting their attacks and deflecting them, it wasn't particularly easy. The girl tried to use the Force on Myra while holding onto her arm so it didn't fall from her body, but in the middle of swinging her red saber at one of the knights, Myra brought a rock from her feet to the girl's head.

The girl wouldn't be getting up for a while after that one.

One of the Knights shouted in rage and swung hard at her. Just as Myra went to counterattack, she heard a rather relieving sound: Sithtroopers.

The Stormtroopers in red armor swarmed the clearing and began combatting with the Jedi. The few Jedi Masters at the battle cut down the new troopers with little trouble, but the younger Jedi were having a lot more trouble than that.

In the middle of the clearing, Myra spotted Caedus and Luke furiously fighting, murmuring words to each other that she could not hear. Their battle was slow, methodical, thought out between words and jabs at each other. It was not frantic and frenzied like the younger Jedi's fighting. 

Myra hit the ground as she felt a foot hit her square in the back. It knocked the breath out of her, and she rolled over onto her back, wheezing.

Ben stood above her, blue light saber out, hair blowing in the breeze created by all of the fighting. "Get up and fight me," he said in an even tone. Myra regained her breath rather quickly and did a backflip to regain her stance. 

"So this is it, Solo," she remarked. She couldn't call him Ben, not now, not when she had to kill him. Ben wasn't able to respond. He couldn't talk to her, because he wasn't sure if he was able to kill her. Talking would only make this fight harder. Ben rushed in with a quick swing to Myra's side, and she easily deflected the swing, throwing back her own hit. Ben stopped her arm with the Force, and in response, Myra brought her free fist to his cheek, catching him by surprise. The punch was too light to do anything but surprise him, and Myra swept his legs out from underneath him. Now that he was on the ground, she was downwards at his legs, but Ben somersaulted backwards into a crouching position. Once more Myra jabbed at him with her saber, but he leaped into the air above her, slashing at her head while he flipped over top of her. Myra simultaneously ducked and blocked his saber above her head, and furiously turned around. Was he trying to decapitate her? Ben spun his saber a few times in his hand to gather momentum, and began to deliver swift, hard, accurate strikes to Myra, who was put on the defensive. Ben struck quickly, and Myra had a hard time keeping up with all of the blocking. Still, she managed. When he slowed half a second on one of the strikes, Myra stopped Ben's saber with the Force, holding her hand by her side, and pushed it backwards. Ben staggered a few feet back towards the edge of the clearing. Angrily, he jumped forward and slashed at Myra, not giving her a break. He was far stronger and faster than Myra remembered him ever being, and she couldn't help but notice the muscles he'd developed, his jawline-

Stop it, she told herself. She blocked Ben's blow, barely, and their lightsabers met. Both pushed towards the other. Their faces were inches apart in this struggle of power, both pushing their saber against the other. "I can show you the right ways of the Force," Ben said through gritted teeth, brown eyes pleading with Myra, begging her to not make him do this. "The dark side is the only way. I'd rather live a lifetime of feeling rather than a lifetime of restriction," Myra responded, the same begging in her eyes. For what felt like a lifetime, they stared into each other's eyes, and the battle outside of them ceased to exist.

And then, with a sudden burst of energy, Myra pushed against Ben hard and knocked him backwards onto his rear. He lifted his saber to deflect her blow, but as she distracted him with the swing of her saber, she brought her foot to his wrist and sharply kicked it. Ben's saber flew out of his hand, and without hesitation, Myra summoned it with her free hand.

Red and sapphire flashed in Ben's eyes.

Myra's breath slowed, heart beating in her ears.

"Do it," Ben whispered. She held both sabers on either side of his neck, in position to easily murder him.

Time slowed. The entire clearing turned to watch the scene unfolding.

It felt like an eternity.

Myra stared into Ben's eyes, and she saw fear. Fear of death. He was a Jedi, he was everything she didn't believe in, but at the end of the day, he was a boy who was scared to die yet still fought with everything he had for the light side.

Kill him, a gravelly voice whispered in her head. Snoke could see.

Myra ventured further into Ben's eyes, and felt a connection, one she'd never felt before.

This was it, the moment she became a Sith Lord. The most defining moment in her life thus far.

Do it, the voice pressed, this one more evil and foreign and unfamiliar yet oh so tempting-

Her muscles twitched, eager to do the task she had trained for her whole life, but she stopped herself. His eyes, his messy brown hair, the frightened yet peaceful look on his face- he was scared, but he knew it had to happen, he had to die for the light side.

Myra's hands moved.

The sabers retracted, and she fell to her knees. "I can't," she whispered.

Both Ben and Luke stared in disbelief. She could not bring herself to kill him. 

Kill him, Snoke's voice rang out once more.

It was too late before Myra realized he wasn't addressing her to kill Ben.

As the Stormtroopers turned their guns, everything happened in slow motion. Myra screamed, a bloodcurdling cry, but it was too late, she couldn't stop the barrage of blaster fire that hit Caedus. 

She didn't even get to say goodbye. She felt his Force signature blink away from existence, and Myra felt everything ripped from her. He was the only thing she loved, the only thing she cared about. He filled the entire void in her, and now that he was gone, she felt empty- tears streamed down her face and she continued to scream. "NO!" Luke Skywalker stared at his opponent in disbelief of what had just happened. A Sith Lord had just been shot down by his own soldiers.

The most cruel punishment of all, he thought to himself. Luke immediately understood that Caedus' death was a punishment to Myra for not killing Ben- she could feel her anguish and her pain.

Ben sat up behind Myra and placed his hand on her shoulder. She whipped around, fury and sorrow filling her tear-filled eyes. "Do not touch me," she hissed.

Myra stood up and ran. Ben watched her slim, blonde figure fade away into the trees, felt her cut her Force signature off to him. Luke and the rest of the Jedi made quick work of the Stormtroopers, but he was too stunned to help. He laid on the ground, and grabbed both lightsabers in his hand, red and blue.

What had he done?


End file.
